Field Station. 64°04’42.3”N 21°47’57.8”W

Visitors to Iceland currently outnumber the existing population 7 times over. This is putting a strain on the islands infrastructure and nature. The proposal explores how to incorporate this growing issue in a project that benefits the locals in the immediate and wider context while informing the visitors on the fragility of the land they have come to see.

The research journey in Iceland consisted of long walks over two weeks during which conversations and observations gave a glimpse into the locals' everyday life and most importantly let us experience the hardship of the weather. The chosen site is near one of Reykjavik's low density suburbs which sprawl short before the economical collapse, a time when bank loans fulfilled everyone’s dream of a private house. There are many areas that face an identical situation - purely residential, without a place for a community to come together. For such activities one would drive to the city centre. This residential area sits next to a nature reserve which today is one of the largest forests in Iceland. It is taken care of by the local Forestry Association and has 20'000 visitors every year. The Field Station is a center for skiers, runners and hikers to encourage outdoors activities in the local community. It is also a place for the nature reserve visitors to stop warm up and a base for the Forestry Association. The program and layout is set out in a way that all three users benefit from each other and it aims to encourage tree planting in the nearby suburbia that would allow the forest to extend into the urban landscape. Such a program and space could have it’s obvious benefits to its users health, social life or natural surroundings, but it also has the potential to start something more long lasting. Here one could grow to appreciate and gain a deeper connection to his/her land. Being outdoors unconsciously teaches one how to understand the weather and nature and as a result, there are more protective feelings towards it. The building uses the weather and landscape to its advantage and can help to overcome the difficult moment of transition between the comfortable indoors and harsh outside. The area is new and so is the community. But for the local children who are growing up there now, this is the home, and through growing up together a new community will be created. Having a place to take care of and share, could potentially have a more long lasting, positive effect on their surroundings than just a sustainable building itself.